Karabiner Mountaineering Club

November 2008 Meet Reports

June 21^st/22^nd - Llanberis Pass - Al Metelko

Friday evening

Andy, Al - Climbed on the Grochan. Stunning weather, seemed impossible that the forecast for Saturday was rubbish.

Saturday

Started raining around 7am and didn't stop until mid morning Sunday.

Bob, Charles - did the Cloggy horseshoe which took in the Llechog ridge, Cloggy, Foel Goch and Moel Eilio. Charles didn't quite do the full round.

James, Kasia, Kevin, Alice - did a walk in/near the Crafnant valley

Andy - worked on his briefs [?].

Mike, Trish, Chris, Al - Aimed for Clogwyn y Person arête via Jammed Boulder Gully on Dinas Mot. To make things a little more interesting I didn't bring a guide book, compass or map, unfortunately one or two members of this group sneaked in one or two of the offending items. Not having done JBG, I wasn't sure we were in the right gully so we picked a line of most polish which led us through a couple of squeezes and numerous waterfalls and the bottom of the North Ridge of Crib Goch. Contouring round to Llyn Glas in the mist and the torrential down pour was not straightforward. The better prepared members (M, T and C) took bearings which resulted in an about turn and eventually after what seemed a long time Mike spotted the Llyn. Some of us waded across to the island, much to the annoyance of the gulls, surprisingly we didn't get any wetter! The Clogwyn y Person arête came out of the swirling mist, trying to look enthusiastic I asked if we should complete the walk, must be the way I said it, everyone was for getting back to the hut including myself. Just as well, it was nearly 7pm when we arrived back after 9 hours out.

Duncan, Vicky - climbed at Penmaen Head a newly opened bolted area at Old Colwyn, the occasional shower managed to miss the crag.

Sunday

By the end of the morning everyone had escaped The Pass. Duncan and Vicky went back to Penmaen Head, Alice was on a train heading south, the rest to various parts of Manchester, deepest Cheshire and Stockport climbing wall. After making sure the hut was in a fit state and picking up many forgotten items, Andy and myself headed for the new crag only to see Duncan and Vicky leave. We managed 4 four routes ranging from F5 to F6a+. Unfortunately the strong gusty wind sent us home much too early and there I had masses of apple crumble which ought to have been eaten on the meet.

The Hut

Fantastic location, the lounge doubles up as a drying room that actually works, pity about the weather. The fireplace - well what can I say!

July 5^th/6^th - Langdale (Rawhead) Meet - Joe Flynn

Members: Lester Payne, Sabina Cosulich, Al Metelko, Sheena Hendrie, Chris Williams, James Hoyle, Kasia Hoyle, Trish Cranston, Joe Flynn, Mark Ashley, Katie Horgan. Guest Mike Freeman.

All twelve places booked for the meet were taken. Apart from a couple of mountain marathon men from FRCC on the Friday night we had the hut to ourselves. Why was this, you may be wondering, for the first week in July. The lack of FRCC members must reflect a fair weather attitude to the mountains and a full turn out from the KMC - something else.

The weather that weekend, to be fair, was not the best. Friday evening was perfect and some of the group detoured to Trowbarrow whilst others went to the Stickle barn, sat outside and were entertained by a very good local guitarist/singer. Dave Bish spent most of the afternoon and evening travelling up from Hastings and took the prize for longest commute.

Saturday morning was forecast to be good early on and then raining by lunchtime. Lester and myself made an early start on Scout Crag to be joined by Al a little later. We did a couple of routes on the lower crag then moved to the upper crag. We had almost finished Route 1 when the rain arrived and were well soaked by the time we were reunited with our sacks and waterproofs. A swift return to the hut and 15 minutes later Al lit a big coal fire and we settled in for the afternoon. Dave and Katie set off for Dunmail Raise where I believe she left him. But would she have left him if she knew the bloody history of the place (See footnote). However, like a homing fell runner he found his way back to the hut. Most of the meet made a brave attempt on Scafell but as the weather deteriorated good judgement took over and plans were modified. They arrived back safe and soggy sometime in the evening. I was not there to welcome them back as by then the rain had passed and Lester and myself walked over the mountain to the Dungeon Ghyll and back via Stickle barn for refreshments, entertainment and good company.

I was up early on Sunday as family celebrations and KMC duties had clashed. On threat of serious harm I had promised to be home by 10.00am and almost was. Lester was kind enough to note the goings on that day.

Dave and Katie headed home early. I suppose it is a long way back to Hastings. Sheena and Sabina went on a run. Al went to inspect Gimmer and Mark bagged another Wainwright possibly Ling Mell. The rest went on a ramble around the fells visiting Oxendale, Cringle Crags, 3 tarns and Pike O Bliscoe.

A big thank you to all who turned up and especially for cleaning the hut and leaving it so neat and tidy. Sorry I missed that bit!

*Dunmail Raise was the scene of a bloody battle for control of the lands of Cumbria. The battle took place against King Dunmail, the last King of Cumbria, against the united forces of Malcolm, the King of Scotland and Edmund, a Saxon King. Dunmail was defeated and slain and his sons were mutilated, his men were made to build a stone cairn over the spot where he fell.

July 11^th/13^th - North Devon Climbing - Mark Garrod

Members present: Peter Johnson, Mark Ashley, Michelle Harvie, Mark Garrod.

Guests: Marilyn Johnson.

The plan for the weather at least worked well, with the final rain of an awful week finishing just as M&M arrived on the Friday evening, to give us sunshine all the way. Good to see Pete taking advantage of a "nearly local" meet, and Mark A joining us en route to a family gathering in Dorset.

M&M&M camped at Mitchum's - we were the ones without bleached hair, fancy long-shorts, and surf board. Pete and Marilyn were in local inn enjoying the relative comfort of beds and en-suite.

Saturday started in the normal way, with Michelle in for her first dip of the day, and then the team of 4 headed off to Baggy Point and Scrattling zawn (Marilyn was getting her sponsored mileage in on foot). The meet leader then excelled himself by dropping a rope into the briny whilst abseiling. Michelle was tempted into a second dip to retrieve it, but was wisely warned off by Mark A and Pete, who thought the heavy swell and washing-machine appearance of the gully it has dropped into was not a good place to be. Nevertheless, Scrattling crack (***) was conquered by all, on one rope or two. We then headed off to Long Rock slab, and spent the rest of day enjoying the various routes there, such as Ben and Marion (both HS). Most care of the day was taken on the descent to the base of the face, via a mod scramble down followed by a drop through the eye of the ridge (you'll have to go to get the full picture). More swimming completed the day, apart from the odd beer amongst the young ones (no, not us).

Sunday was pretty much the same, less the scrattling bit. For those who know Long Rock slab, you will realise that ticking off loads of routes was not top of our agenda, but we did make up some interesting route variations that kept us amused. Thanks to Pete, Marilyn and Mark for making it work.

Scrattling Crack [M. Garrod]. {A fine array of gear to match Roger's. Perhaps best in B&W with those shoes!}

July 19^th/20^th - Family Meet - Bridget Mapleson

Members: Martin Heaton, Zoe Talks, Sue Marsden, Craig Marsden, Roger Mapleson, Chris Williams, and we think Al Metelko and Sheena Hendrie?, Bridget Mapleson.

Guests: Chris Williams friend, Alex Heaton, Tom and Phoebe Marsden, Carys and Owen Mapleson.

Weather more reminiscent of late autumn than July requiring fleeces and water proofs. Obviously my request booking for lovely warm sun had been filed somewhere in a bin - made the best of it hopefully without putting people off hills.

Saturday: dawned a bit overcast, windy and damp so being flexible individuals we redirected our aim for the day, to avoid discouraging future potential kmc members, from a stroll along the Nantle ridge to a walk up Moel Eilio along the ridge towards Cloggy then a scramble back down to Llanberris. An interesting wander up through Owen's favourite scenery (slate quarries) and out the top in drizzle which soon cleared to bright and breezy. Nantle ridge gloriously appeared out of low cloud with sun/blue sky - super clear views up and down Wales. Walked/rolled/ran/stumbled along ridge. Alex, at 6 years old, must get star of the day award for managing the whole walk (8 miles and about 2500ft of climbing) in excellent humour - definitely mountaineering material in the making. Thanks to Tom for keeping Owen occupied for a significant amount of time. Communal tea very fine although cannot remember menu. Chris and friend went on damp walk around the Carneddau.

Sunday: Sue and Tom returned home to play cricket. Again dull/damp so adapted original plan from the Pass to bolt clipping at Trevor which proved a bit tough for the vertically (and sleep) challenged (and I don't mean me). Picnic with sunny view of Llangollen windy and cool. Rog led 4+ which was seconded to the first bolt by Phoebe, Carys, Owen and Alex and then to the lower off by Craig, Martin and myself. A rope was put up a second 4 by Craig so that Alex, Carys and Owen could have another play on the rock. After a while the drizzle caught us up so in disgust beat a retreat to home.

The Nantle ridge is still there for another day. We think Al and Sheena climbed but as the black spot in last news letter indicated, it were a while ago.

Team photo of lunch on Saturday above Moel Eilio slate quarry [Bridget Mapleson].

August 30^th/31^st - Hut Meet: A Near Miss - Peter Walker

Members: Bob Kelly, Iain McCallum, Frank & Margaret Williams, Peter Walker.

Guest: Tara Sabir.

Dave Shotton Emailed me asking me to contact 2 people keen to attend this meet; Bob Kelly, a very enthusiastic newer member, and Tara Sabir, a young lady who had chosen this for her very first meet. Tara would arrive on the Friday evening armed with my 'phone number so I could let her through the gate. The rest of us were already there when Tara rang, postponing her arrival until Saturday 8:30am.

Saturday Morning: Iain and Frank selected Moel Eilio from the hut as a suitable walk, so when we got a call from Tara to say she would arrive 9:30 ready to walk everybody agreed to wait. 9:15 Text from Tara, further delayed, would arrive ASAP. Bob Kelly kindly agreed to wait for her and then aim to catch us up. Off we went by diverse routes, Iain, Frank and Margaret by the longer N-S ridge of Bryn Mawr; I chose Braich y Foel, starting through the hut circles of the prehistoric inhabitants of Llanberis.

A mid-morning 'phone call from Bob. Tara had arrived at the hut but unable to match his pace had diverted to a local walk. Bob had now caught the others and they were halfway up the ridge. We all converged at the summit shelter, Frank particularly delighted with this milestone on his determined efforts to regain his fitness. They set off down to Blwch maes gwm over Foel Gron & Foel Goch. Iain, Frank and Margaret returned from here to the hut, Bob carried on over Moel Cynghorion & Cloggy to Snowdon. I went north down the Brwyn Mawr ridge and Cefn Du and some more hut circles - this is the last northern tip of the Snowdon mass.

Back at the hut, Iain had already left. Frank & Margaret reported that Tara had returned and collected her car and had also gone. So she did come to the hut, did a walk, but we never actually met! I do hope she has not been put off and gives the KMC another go.

It rained on Sunday but it did not stop Bob who made an early start off to Mynydd Mawr - as I said, very enthusiastic.

September 6^th/7^th - Wasdale Camping - Sue Harkness

Members: Sue Harkness, Graham Harkness.

The intrepid two arrived at the campsite around Friday teatime, accompanied the whole way from the North East by lashing rain and strong winds. The campsite was sparsely populated and saturated. Nevertheless the tent did remain in place overnight despite the squalls and tremendous flapping of the canvas, which kept Sue awake for most of the night. Saturday brought no change to the weather but we went to the Brackenclose car park just in case someone else was silly enough to turn up, but no. Other KMC members had the sense to remain, hopefully, warmer and drier. We did make an effort and walked a short low circuit, which included hot chocolate in the Wasdale Head Hotel. We planned to stay overnight, however other forces were at work and our old frame tent developed a tear. We decided that enough was enough and retreated to the comfort of a B&B at Newby Bridge. Meet abandoned at that point.

September 13^th - Welsh Mountain Meet - Vicky Alderton

Members present: Vicky Alderton, Duncan Lee, Bob Kelly, James Hoyle, Kasia Hoyle, Dave Wylie, Pete Walker, Joe Flynn, Dave Bish, Katie Horgan, Colin Maddison, Ann Sanderson, Trish Cranston, Al Metelko.

Guests: Steve Waters, Roisin Maddison, Alison Dixon, Katy Flynn, Alex Vidoris, Geoff Hibbert, Andy Blakely (CMC), Deirdre Collier (CMC), Dick Winslow (CMC), Chris Vernon (CMC), Ann Cheualien (CMC).

Looking out of the window of the hut I watched the rain bouncing off the floor and pondered what a wash out the last few months of summer had been. Reading the hut book did nothing to cheer the mood as every recent entry seemed to mention torrential downpours. So, it was lucky that this was the weekend before my meet?.

All week I had a feeling the weekend could only bring miserable weather, which would mean scrambling up Tryfan in the wind and rain?not something I was looking forward to having already had that pleasure recently on Dave Bish's meet! As the weekend got closer, the forecast improved, and a chat with Dick from the Craven Mountaineering Club assured me that Duncan and I would not be the only people at the hut. Things were looking up?

Saturday brought sunshine and with it lots of KMC members and guests, eager to enjoy the fine weather. Most headed to Tryfan to climb and walk and a few headed to Snowdon.

Climbing mainly started on Milestone Buttress (well for those of us that could find it, mentioning no names Ann). Routes climbed included Ordinary Route, Rowan Route, Superdirect and Direct Route. Roisin enjoyed her first mountain multi-pitch route with Colin via Rowan Route.

Al had decided to do his usual trick of soloing but then bumping into Andy from the CMC, who was in a 3, they decided to pair up to do Munich Climb. Shame neither of them had decided to bring a rack. Not letting a small thing like lack of gear defeat them they trawled through their sacks and managed to find a handful of nuts, a few slings and about 4 or 5 quickdraws. Perfectly acceptable amount of gear for a slightly wet VS! Adrenalin was mentioned afterwards?

Second Pinnacle Rib on the east face of Tryfan was also a popular choice with Bob and Alison and Dick & Deirdre all making ascents. Duncan and I continued up Tryfan via North Buttress and Belle Vue Bastion. Trish and Dave continued up the appealing looking slab above Milestone and then up the North Ridge.

Arriving at the summit we were greeted by the sight of a slightly shaken and bloody Al! No, he'd not fallen off Munich Climb, but instead had thrown himself backwards off Adam whilst attempting a two footed jump from Eve. Unfortunately the newsletter's in black and white otherwise I'd have sent in the picture to prove it. As I'm sure you can guess, he received sympathy all round!

And so it was back to the hut for food (or in Al's case a plaster on his fat lip) and good company followed by well earned rest? for those of us not mad enough to set off around midnight to run the welsh 3,000ers after a days climbing and several pints of beer. We next saw Geoff and Dave about 5 pm on Sunday!

Thanks to everyone who came and made it such an enjoyable weekend.

September 21^st - Laddow - Heather Brooke

Members: Dave Wylie, Sheena Hendrie, Roger Dyke, Andrew Croughton, Chris Williams, Andrew Grantham, John and Midge Castick, Frank and Margaret Williams, Dave Bish, Katie Horgan, Mark Ashley, Colin Maddison, Trish Cranston, Julie O'Regan.

Guests: Brian Street, Peter Scholefield, Ben and Rosie Stevenson, Claire Bailey, Ian Dillion, John Daldon and Milly, Roisin Maddison, Bob Kelly.

Tea and cakes were amazing as ever with some unexpected sunshine as a bonus. This resulted in a dry crag allowing lots of climbing to be done. The normal conga-line up Long climb followed as well as numerous ascents of Tower Face, North Climb and Little Crowberry. With the day's main entertainment being provided by John and Julie's ascent of Cave Crack.

October 4^th/5^th - Ty Powdwr: Working Meet - Frank Williams

Present : Mark Garrod, Virginia Castick; John Castick; Bob Kelly; Margaret Williams and Frank Williams.

Saturday's weather was atrocious but ideal for focus on indoor tasks. Since approval to removal of the old four piece suite in the lounge had been received, the demolition merchants set to with a will and the remains were transported to the nearest recycling centre. Demolition by Bob Kelly and Mark Garrod, who also disposed of the sad remains.

Midge painted the walls of Glydwr Fawr and what a big improvement that made, she then, with Margaret changed the shower curtains for new thus removing the mouldy old ones.

Margaret as usual cleaned out the crock and glass cupboards, which were due for a good going over. Margaret also supplied the goodies for and made the soup and our lunch on Saturday.

Meanwhile, John serviced some of the fire doors, adjusting the door closers and the latch keeps. This task is an ongoing one and needs completion.

Both windows in Elidir Fawr were painted undercoat and gloss and this made a vast difference to the clean appearance. We also started to undercoat the roof lights, which, over the twenty years since installation have become grotty and mouldy, again this needs to be continued, and they will look much brighter when complete.

The Fire Officer at his recent visit noted that the back door to the small porch was sticking and presenting a hazard for escape. John worked on the latch to free this thoroughly. In addition hooks were fixed to the toilet doors without any, to meet, in particular, a need in the ladies loos.

Finally, Bob undercoated the front outer door twice and Midge applied a coat of green gloss on Sunday morning.

Since the forecast for Sunday was atrocious, Bob fled on Saturday muttering about a climbing wall. However, Sunday turned out to be, in contrast to the forecast, a beautiful day and Frank and Margaret went to walk up to Aber Falls which proved to be in wonderful spate after Saturday's deluge.

Thanks are due to all who attended, with great spirit and willingness to contribute to the well being of Ty Powdwr once again. Many thanks to all attendees.

October 11^th - Fell Race - Roger Mapleson

A change of organiser for the 2008 KMC fell race and my first attempt ever to organise anything of the kind. I was lucky to be able to draw upon the experience of those that have gone before me, notably Neville and Ken and also my own experience taking part in various mountain navigation events. The club fell race actually doesn't bear much resemblance to most fell races in that as well as speed over the hills it is also a test of navigational ability and the ability to pick a good route. More on this later.

The format was very similar to previous years but with a few experimental tweaks. Race headquarters were located at Sabina's home at Long Lee, Rowarth which proved an ideal place for Craig and me to hole up and drink large amounts of tea whilst waiting for the first to return.

The course was a closely guarded secret until literally the last minute. Runners were only given their map, with checkpoints already marked, when they started which caused consternation for many as they were deprived of the usual opportunity to consider the various route options at their leisure. Runners were also started at individual times rather than the usual mass starts.

Consequently, even though the first kilometre or so of the route was marked and people were pointed in the right direction, the choice of route on the first leg were in some case quite bizarre and times for this leg varied from 17½ minutes to one hour.

The course took runners firstly over to Little Hayfield and from there via Middle Moor and Leygatehead Moor on to the Kinder Plateau. This was shrouded in cloud for the day with a light drizzle setting in for good measure during the afternoon. Checkpoint 3, a trig point NW of the downfall proved particularly difficult to find and some circled it for many hours before finally stumbling across Chris and Joe. Routes from there to checkpoint 4 on the southern edge of the plateau were mostly well executed. Some were confident enough to plot a course across the plateau from Red Brook or via the downfall stream whilst others were a little more cautious and minimised featureless bog crossing by taking a dog leg route via Kinder Low. The long leg back to Little Hayfield took its toll and now is probably the time to confess that the route length originally specified was a little conservative. The "planners choice" was probably about 20 K (13 miles) owing to a relatively late adjustment to checkpoint locations. I did think to tell you all, but then figured it might put you off. Next year's course will be shorter. Honest.

Finishers
Runner	Start	1	2	3	4	5	Finish	Overall Position
Duncan Lee	00:00:00	00:19:45	00:51:45	01:14:45	01:48:45	02:34:45	02:53:45	1
		00:19:45	00:32:00	00:23:00	00:34:00	00:46:00	00:19:00
Steve Waters	00:00:00	00:21:00	00:53:00	01:21:00	01:56:00	02:43:00	03:02:00	2
		00:21:00	00:32:00	00:28:00	00:35:00	00:47:00	00:19:00
Kirsten Mundt	00:00:00	00:22:30	00:56:30	01:24:30	02:02:30	02:57:30	03:17:00	3
		00:22:30	00:34:00	00:28:00	00:38:00	00:55:00	00:19:30
Iain Bell (G)	00:00:00	00:22:15	00:59:15	01:28:15	02:06:15	03:01:15	03:23:45	4
		00:22:15	00:37:00	00:29:00	00:38:00	00:55:00	00:22:30
James Hoyle	00:00:00	00:34:30	01:13:30	01:41:30	02:15:30	03:20:30	03:43:00	5
		00:34:30	00:39:00	00:28:00	00:34:00	01:05:00	00:22:30
Dave Bone	00:00:00	00:29:15	01:08:15	01:54:15	02:34:15	03:46:15	04:20:30	6
		00:29:15	00:39:00	00:46:00	00:40:00	01:12:00	00:34:15
Dave Wylie	00:00:00	00:39:15	01:18:15	01:44:15	02:28:15	03:48:15	04:23:45	7
		00:39:15	00:39:00	00:26:00	00:44:00	01:20:00	00:35:30
Al Metelko	00:00:00	00:30:45	01:13:45	01:56:45	02:40:45	03:53:45	04:26:15	8
		00:30:45	00:43:00	00:43:00	00:44:00	01:13:00	00:32:30
Richard Yorke	00:00:00	00:25:30	01:21:30	02:22:30	03:02:30	04:03:30	04:35:15	9
		00:25:30	00:56:00	01:01:00	00:40:00	01:01:00	00:31:45
Julie O' Regan	00:00:00	00:39:45	01:15:45	01:50:45	02:49:45	04:05:45	04:36:00	joint 10
		00:39:45	00:36:00	00:35:00	00:59:00	01:16:00	00:30:15
Des (G)	00:00:00	00:39:45	01:15:45	01:50:45	02:49:45	04:05:45	04:36:00	joint 10
		00:39:45	00:36:00	00:35:00	00:59:00	01:16:00	00:30:15
Bob Kelly	00:00:00	00:40:30	01:52:30	02:27:30	03:21:30	04:39:30	05:11:00	12
		00:40:30	01:12:00	00:35:00	00:54:00	01:18:00	00:31:30
G = GUEST

First: Duncan Lee.

First Lady (3^rd overall): Kirsten Mundt.

Concordia Trophy for 1^st time member (2^nd overall): Steve Waters.

Handicap (6^th overall): Dave Bone.

Disqualified and non finishers
Runner	Start	1	2	3	4	5	Finish
Michelle Harvie	00:00:00	00:23:30	00:57:30		02:20:30	03:14:30	03:33:15
		00:23:30	00:34:00			00:54:00	00:18:45
Mark Garrod	00:00:00	00:25:30		01:25:30	02:03:30	03:14:30	03:38:00
		00:25:30			00:38:00	01:11:00	00:23:30
Trish Cranston	00:00:00	00:54:30					05:54:30
		00:54:30					16:48:00
Mark (G)	00:00:00	00:43:30	02:08:30	03:15:30	04:38:30
		00:43:30	01:25:00	01:07:00	01:23:00
Christine Beeston	00:00:00	00:43:30	02:08:30	03:15:30	04:38:30
		00:43:30	01:25:00	01:07:00	01:23:00
Kasia Hoyle	00:00:00	00:39:15	01:35:15	03:17:15	04:36:15
		00:39:15	00:56:00	01:42:00	01:19:00
Christine Stark (G)	00:00:00	00:39:15	01:35:15	03:17:15	04:36:15
		00:39:15	00:56:00	01:42:00	01:19:00
Sheena Hendrie	00:00:00	00:43:00	01:51:00		03:53:00	05:38:00	06:22:00
		00:43:00	01:08:00			01:45:00	00:44:00
Steve Bowker (G)	00:00:00	00:17:30		01:13:30		02:33:30	02:58:30
		00:17:30					00:25:00
Jasmine Paris (G)	00:00:00	00:21:45	00:58:45	01:24:45		03:06:45	03:26:45
		00:21:45	00:37:00	00:26:00			00:20:00
Roger Dyke	00:00:00	00:43:30	02:08:30	03:15:30	04:38:30
		00:43:30	01:25:00	01:07:00	01:23:00
Ann Waters	00:00:00	01:00:00	02:00:00	03:09:00
		01:00:00	01:00:00	01:09:00
G = GUEST

First back was Steve Bowker. Sadly Steve had not checked in at a couple of checkpoints. But he's not a member anyway. Steve Waters and Duncan arrived together but with a later starting time this put Duncan in pole position having finished in an impressive 2hrs 53mins. The rest of the field drifted in over the next few hours some having successfully completed the course others having failed for one reason or another to locate all the checkpoints.

At the final reckoning, of 24 starters, 12 completed the course. A further 6 made it under their own steam to the finish but unfortunately had not visited every checkpoint. The remainder, having given it their all, cadged lifts back to Sabina's. The very last one home was retrieved from the Lantern Pike pub by Sabina with the excuse that it was safer to hole up there and have a drink than continue in the dark.

Duncan Lee retained his leading position to secure his first club fell race win after a number of near misses in recent years. Steve Waters was not far behind in second place and takes the Concordia trophy for first time entrant. Kirsten in third place overall and only 15 mins behind Steve retained her title as the ladies winner. Finally, after much grinding of numbers in extremely complicated formulas, none of which made much sense, the handicap trophy goes to Dave Bone. The factors taken into account and the formulas and weighting applied are of course top secret but I'm not giving too much away by letting you know that the result has something to do with maximum efficiency in the execution of the route by minimising distance travelled and height ascended.

The following maps show the routes taken by some of the runners for you to laugh at as well as the planners' choice of route:

Routes taken by some of the competitors.

The route the organisers would have used.

There are also some pictures from checkpoint 4 in the photo gallery.

Honourable mentions

Checkpoint marshals. A horrible job but someone has to do it. Thanks to Ken Beetham, John and Midge Castick, Frank and Margaret Williams, Chris Thickett, Joe Flynn, Andy Croughton and Alan L Jones.

Hospitality. Sabina laid on lots of food for hungry finishers (and race controllers) and the facility to relax indoors and then go to the pub contributed hugely to the attraction of the event (Well, I suppose it would compared to the other attraction of running around in a bog in the rain).

Course planning and controlling on the day: Craig Marsden - a drastic way to avoid actually competing and also to guest Iain Bell of Deeside Orienteers who helped with course planning.

Trish - for refraining from lynching me, having had a bad time finding checkpoint 2.

Ann - for finding as many checkpoints as she did.

Kirsten - for travelling all the way from Germany to defend her title - it paid off.

Richard Yorke - for giving 110% and nearly expiring at the finish.

Thankyou to everyone who turned out on the day either to compete or to help. I really did appreciate it.

November Newsletter Index.

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